Kyle showed an outcropping of sand that is so valuable to the mining companies. Kyle Slaby signed a lucrative contract with a local frac sand company in the desperate hope that he could save his parents’ Arcadia, Wis., farm from foreclosure. He never anticipated that a member of his local township board would torpedo the plan — then strike his own deal to mine sand with the company. Tuesday, December 18, 2012 ] GLEN STUBBE * gstubbe MIN1212191732061768 ORG XMIT: MIN1305211720380488

A 220-seat Pizza Ranch restaurant proposed for Oak Park Heights would bring four full-time and 70 part-time jobs, according to information submitted to city planners.

The buffet-style restaurant has more than 170 locations in 11 states, including Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.

The restaurant would open late this year or early in 2014 next to AmericInn on 60th Street N., and would be open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, according to a city planning report. Existing Pizza Ranch restaurants closest to Oak Park Heights are in Maplewood and Apple Valley.

The restaurant will be built along Hwy. 36, west of the portion that will be rebuilt as part of the St. Croix River bridge project.

The company didn't respond to a request for further information.

Washington County

Child-care providers can attend orientation

Washington County residents interested in becoming licensed family child-care providers can attend an orientation meeting from 1-3:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 9.

Basic information regarding the family child care program and requirements for licensing will be discussed. Attendance is required at one of these meetings before a license can be issued.

Meetings are in Lower Level Conference Room 14 in the Washington County Government Center in Stillwater. Use parking lot A on the south side.

Call Annie Walton at 651-430-6539 to register. There is no fee for this meeting.

Cimarron

Law firm's fundraiser will assist nonprofit

Anastasi Jellum, a Stillwater law firm, raised $27,887 for charity at its 13th annual golf event on Aug. 22 at Hillcrest Golf Club in St. Paul. The event will assist the nonprofit agency FamilyMeans.

FamilyMeans provides credit and mental health counseling, and youth and senior programs, to individuals and families in Minnesota and Western Wisconsin. Money from the tournament will help pay for a new onsite building for the FamilyMeans' youth program in Cimarron.

FamilyMeans has had a year-round presence in Cimarron for the past five years, providing both after-school and summer programming for school-age children and teens.

The 92 golfers who participated in the event represented various banks and businesses throughout the metro area.

St. Croix Region

Film shows cost of frac-sand mining

The St. Croix River Association (SCRA) will be showing "The Price of Sand," a movie intended to show the dangers of unregulated frac-sand mining, on Thursday, Sept. 12.

This hourlong documentary was released earlier this year. "The goal of this project was to find the real price of frac sand," said Jim Tittle, the film's director, "not just in dollars, but in friendships, communities and the future of our region."

The evening begins at 6:30 p.m. for a tour of the SCRA office.

The screening will begin at 7 p.m. at 230 S. Washington St., Hwy. 87, in the library complex. Discussion will follow.

The program is free and open to the public, but reservations are encouraged to ensure adequate seating.

Cottage Grove

City Public Works to hold open house

The Cottage Grove Public Works department will host an open house Sept. 19 to give the public an up-close look at some of the equipment and machinery used by city workers during the course of their jobs, officials said. The event will be held rain or shine at the Public Works building, 8635 W. Point Douglas Road.

Children will get a look at the snowplows, dump trucks, tractors and mowers in the city's fleet. Other activities include a hayride, inflatable bouncer, balloon animals, face painting and henna tattoos.

The event is free, and food will be sold from 3-7 p.m.

Woodbury

Environmental award deadline extended

The city of Woodbury has extended the deadline for nominations for the sixth annual Environmental Excellence Awards through Sept. 13.

The award was started in 2008 as a way of recognizing projects that promote sustainability. The competition features 10 categories: green building, green remodeling, waste reduction and recycling, water conservation, energy efficiency and conservation, use of renewable or alternative energy, sustainable business practices, environmental education and awareness, innovative stormwater management practices, and youth leadership, according to the city's website.

Those wishing to nominate a business, nonprofit, school or resident must mail a nomination form to City Hall — 8301 Valley Creek Road, Woodbury, MN 55125 — by the new deadline. Visit the city's website for more information or to download the form. Applicants can nominate themselves.

Washington County

Sheriff's Office joins drug theft task force

The Washington County Board approved an agreement Sept. 3 between the Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to create a new investigative task force with a focus on the large scale diversion of pharmaceutical drugs.

The DEA, from headquarters in Minneapolis, will investigate the diversion, illegal distribution, and theft of pharmaceutical drugs by doctors, pharmacies and other health care providers. The Sheriff's Office will provide one full-time deputy for the task force.

The term of the agreement is Oct. 1, 2013, to Sept. 30, 2014.

Woodbury

Fall maintenance to begin Monday

The Woodbury Public Works Department plans to start regular maintenance work in the city's neighborhoods, officials said.

The work will proceed, weather permitting, on Monday and is expected to continue through the end of week, between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. Residents are asked not to park on the street and to remove any other items, such as portable basketball hoops, that might interfere with street sweeping. Once that phase of the work has been completed, hydrant flushing will begin the week of Sept. 16.

For information about street sweeping or hydrant flushing, contact the Public Works Department at 651-714-3720.

The mayor of a traditionally liberal Wisconsin city has ordered the removal of a cemetery's monuments to Confederate soldiers, saying the Civil War was "a defense of the deplorable practice of slavery" and "an act of insurrection and treason."